Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Shadows of 1929: Netzach Yisrael or Judenrein Israel?

Netzach Yisrael or Judenrein Israel?July 24, 2013

Today we marked two
tragedies at the Ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron. Tomorrow will be the third.

The first was a
memorial service for Elazar Lebovitch, who was killed on a Friday afternoon, 11
years ago, on the eve of his 21st birthday. He was driving his
newlywed friends to Hebron for Shabbat when terrorists shot at his car, killing
him. The same terrorists also shot and killed three members of the Dickstein
family. A short video from the memorial can be seen
(in Hebrew) here.

The events marking
this murder include a hike from Hebron into the southern Hebron Hills, to the
site of the attack. Later tonight the family is sponsoring a concert of ‘songs
Elazar loved.’

Immediately after
Elazar’s memorial, a 2nd, short ceremony was conducted for the first
victim of the 1929 riots and massacre in Hebron, the yeshiva student, Shmuel
Rosenhaltz. He was killed by an Arab mob late Friday afternoon on August 23, 1929,
while studying at the Yeshiva, exactly 84 years ago today (by the Hebrew date).
Ironically, he and Elazar were killed at almost the same time, on the same date,
73 years apart. Also, their graves are adjacent to one another.

Tomorrow will mark
eighty four years since that horrid Shabbat day, when another 66 Jews were
slaughtered in Hebron, by their Arab neighbors. In late afternoon, a memorial
service will be conducted for them, again, at the ancient Jewish cemetery here
in Hebron.

When discussing this
event with visitors at the Beit Hadassah museum, in the memorial room for these
people, I conclude by expressing two thoughts: In June, 1967, when Israel
liberated Hebron, we did not conquer and occupy a foreign city; rather, we came
back home. And second, we must always be able to protect ourselves. When we
leave our security in the hands of others, the results are catastrophic.

It is well known that
the day prior to start of the riots, Jews from Jerusalem, belonging to the
Haganah, the Jewish defense organization, visited Hebron. Meeting with the city’s
Jewish leadership, they offered them weapons and protection, due to the incitement
of Haj Amin el Husseini, then the Mufti of Jerusalem. The Hebron Jews refused
the weapons, saying that the Arabs would protect them and that weapons would
only serve as a provocation for attacks.

As a result, when
the rioting began, they had no means of protection, and were tortured and
slaughtered without effective defense.

Twenty years ago,
Israel signed the Oslo Accords. Since then, over 1,500 Jews have been killed in
terror attacks. Israel relinquished Gaza eight years ago, and has since been
the target of over 13,000 rocket attacks, sourced from the land we gave them.
This past week, rockets have been shot three times into Israel.

This is why we must
be able to protect ourselves, as a nation, as a people, as a country, without having
to rely on anyone else. Experience has taught us the awful result of such reliance.

However, it seems
that at present, I must add a third point to the first two.

As we observe these
past events, it is mandatory to take a look into the future. Israel is again on the verge of beginning ‘piece
talks’ with our Arab enemies. The
demands on Israel, from the Arabs, the Americans, the Europeans, the Israeli
left, and just about everyone else in the world, include a retreat, withdrawal
and abandonment from almost all of Judea and Samaria, called the ’67 borders.’

Everything goes, including
Hebron.

It is impossible, at
this time, to know whether these talks will actually begin, and where they will
lead. But having already gone through this before, and having had to have live
with the results, the very idea of such ‘talks’ is very scary. Why? Because, in
this case we are not discussing a ‘heart transplant.’ Rather we’re talking
about removing a heart from a living organism and moving it to another body,
leaving the first body literally heartless. That’s what will happen should
Israel agree, G-d forbid, to chop up our country, giving away major parts of,
if not all of, Judea and Samaria, including Hebron, Beit El, Shilo and parts of
Jerusalem.

But, these talks, coming on the heels of the 1929 massacre
anniversary, lead me to another point.

What was Haj Amin el Husseini’s greatest victory in 1929?
There were close to 150 Jews killed throughout pre-state Israel, during those
few days in August, 1929. But that wasn’t his real success. His triumph was
transforming Hebron into a Judenrein city for the first time in almost 1,000
years. The last time Jews hadn’t lived in Hebron was following the Crusader
conquest and occupation, between 1100 and 1260. Then Jews were permitted to
worship at Machpela, but were forbidden to live in Hebron. Since their return
in 1260, following the Mameluke conquest, Jews lived here continuously. Until August 27, 1929. Jews came back in 1931,
and but stayed only until spring 1936, when again the British expelled them.
Why should they have expelled the Jews?

A man whose family had been saved by Arabs during the riots
related to me how his father wrote to the then British High Commissioner,
asking why the ‘victims’ were being punished, why were the Jews being expelled?

The answer he received: ‘The Jews and Arabs can’t continue
living together and there are simply more Arabs than Jews in Hebron. It’s
easier to expel you than to expel them.’

This was Amin el Husseini’s greatest achievement – getting the
Jews out of Hebron.

This was, of course, as he saw it, only the beginning. He
had plans to annihilate all of Israel’s Jewish population following Rommel’s
expected invasion during World War Two. Thankfully, that invasion never
transpired.

But for the first time in almost 1,000 years, the city of
Abraham was Jewless.

It is said that Amin el Husseini viewed Arafat as his
successor. Arafat may be dead, but his ideas and ideals continue, via Abu
Mazen, the PA and Hamas.

And now?What’s in store for Hebron? The question must
be put directly to the guy at the top, the Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu.
Which direction is he going in? What will he be willing to sacrifice? Will he
too be ready to leave Abraham and Sarah as orphans, following in the footsteps
of an evil Haj and an anti-Semitic British High Commissioner? Or rather, walk
in the footsteps of Israel’s first Prime Minister, who, in 1970 said,“Hebron is worthy to be Jerusalem's sister.”

Or Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook,
who said, following the 1929 massacre,“Those who
discourage the ones trying to rebuild the Jewish community in Hebron with
arguments of political expedience; those who scorn and say, 'What are those
wretched Jews doing?'; those who refuse to help build Hebron — they are
attacking the very roots of our people. In the future they will need to give
account for their actions. If ruffians and hooligans have repaid our kindness
with malice, we have only one eternal response: Jewish Hebron will once again
be built, in honor and glory!

The inner
meaning of Hebron is to draw strength and galvanize ourselves with the power of
Netzach Yisrael, Eternal Israel.

So, Bibi - Do you emulate the Haj or the Rabbi,
the British HC or the first Prime Minister of Israel? Netzach Yisrael or Judenrein
Israel?

About Me

David Wilder began working with the Jewish Community
of Hebron in 1994. He served as the English spokesman for the community for 21
years, granting newspaper, television and radio interviews internationally. He has
written hundreds of columns, posted on internet and appearing on websites and
in newspapers around the world. He
published a booklet of questions and answers about Hebron, titled, “Breaking the Lies.” Additionally he has acted in the capacity of community photographer
for over 17 years. He has published several ebooks of his photographs and
articles, available on Amazon. His blogs on the Jerusalem Post and at IsraelNational News have been read by over a half a million people.

Presently executive director of Eretz.Org, David represents
and assists several organizations, including the Neve Avraham ChildrenTreatment Center in Kiryat Arba-Hebron. He continues to conduct tours of
Hebron's Jewish Community and speaks to numerous groups in Hebron. He occasionally
travels abroad, speaking at various functions, explaining the true realities of
today's Israeli-Arab He is also a popular lecturer in Hebron, dealing with
diverse groups, including interfaith delegations, from around the world.

David Wilder has been in Israel for 40 years. He is
married to Ora, a ‘Sabra,’ for 36 years. They lived in Kiryat Arba for 17 years
and have resided at Beit Hadassah in Hebron for seventeen years. They have
seven children, five of whom are married and have many grandchildren.